I expect the certifying bodies do._________________"Method goes far to prevent trouble in business: for it makes the task easy, hinders confusion, saves abundance of time, and instructs those that have business depending, both what to do and what to hope."
William Penn 1644-1718

The latest figures I have cover from October 09 until August 2010. They are the official figures and cover all examination institutes. However it is not clear whether unsuccessful candidates are included!! Anyway the figures for the 2 routes - Managers bridge and MALC are as follows:

The numbers that Liz points out are for those who fall under APG certified accreditors - there are a couple of other EI certified by OGC - namely ISEB and CMSE (usa).

So I'm guessing the numbers are slightly higher.

But this is still a rarified certification - I would be VERY surprised if there were more than 5000 ITIL experts world-wide.

Just spotted this - I am currently teaching in India.

You are incorrect David, om a number of points. The OGC does not accredit any other EIs. This is done by APMG on behalf of the OGC. APMG is the official accreditor.
The figures I gave are official, and cover ALL EIs - CSME, Loyalist, EXIN, ISEB, APMG(The EI, not the accreditor part) etc, etc.
I am accredited with ISEB, EXIN and CSME, and got the same figures from all of them.
A large number of them will be tutors/Consultants like myself - we HAVE to be ITIL Experts to work. There are some who are Badge collectors , of course._________________Liz Gallacher,
ITIL EXPERT
Accredited ITIL and ISO/IEC20000 Trainer and Consultant - Freelance

I am well aware of the "badge collector" issue - we have that occuring in my own company.

One of my colleagues and I have spent the last four years trying to actually implement ITIL at our worksite - and I could spend two or three days (and maybe even longer) telling you about the good, bad, and the ugly of trying to bring ITIL into an organization that has big resisters in high places.

Without getting specific, let me just say that we have had more than our share of less than helpful advice from people both internal and external to the company. A great deal of the that advice has come from "badge collectors" - people who have passed the exams, but have never really gone through the hard knocks of dealing with all the organizational change issues (read people issues). Dealing with the resistance to change within the organization has been our biggest issue. A "badge collector" won't necessarily have any answers for those issues.

Having said that, in my company (as in other IT companies in the US at least) getting ITIL Expert certified has benefits for both horizontal and vertical job growth. I know in my company, having acheived ITIL expert status has gotten me some significant visibility.

I think both experience and a certain amount of certification are equally as valuable - unfortunately people who have both (in large quantities) are pretty rare - hence the job opportunities._________________Dave Martin
ITIL v3 Expert
Ph.D (C), Information Technology

But it is not that big a deal, so why not do it? I acknowledge that it is absolutely not a test of expertise.

To be honest, for the V2 Managers like Viking, the V2-3 Mgrs bridge is a quick, relatively cheap and somewhat cheerful way to get the extra badge.

For me, I learned how to pass an exam, but also realised how much experience I still need to gain in the areas of SPM and CSI. So it was time and (the company's) money well spent. I learned alot more by doing ISO20k consulting certs too.

Cisco or Microsoft certified techos will always try to upgrade as technology changes. Sure ITSM people are "different" but like buying a new business suit every 12 months, throwing out that 1994 Simpsons necktie - sometimes you just suck it up, upgrade your certs and see this as a minimum ticket to the dance.